On this day 05/08/1992 Michael Jackson

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On this day, 5 August 1992, pop superstar Michael Jackson played Cardiff Arms Park as part of his Dangerous World Tour.

The tour to promote his eighth studio album Dangerous was sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. All profits were donated to various charities including Jackson's own "Heal the World Foundation".

The tour ran from June 27, 1992, to November 11, 1993, playing 69 concerts to nearly 4 million people.

During the Europe leg in 1992, MTV was allowed to film backstage and broadcast six fifteen-minute episodes of the tour.

The show was called The Dangerous Diaries and was presented by Sonya Saul. MTV released footage of "Billie Jean" and "Black Or White" at the first show in Munich.

"Billie Jean" was released with 2 different versions, one by MTV as a special, and the other on the Dangerous Diaries documentary.

Both versions have placed a snippet of Jackson's original a cappella recording for "Billie Jean" over the live vocals when Jackson throws his fedora.

Setlist

Part 1 (Following Carmina Burana "Brace Yourself" introduction)

Jam

Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'

Human Nature

Smooth Criminal

I Just Can't Stop Loving You

(with Siedah Garrett)

She's Out of My Life

I Want You Back / The Love You Save / I'll Be There

(The Jackson 5 song)

Thriller

Billie Jean

Part 2 (Following Black or White "Panther" interlude)

Workin' Day and Night

Beat It

Someone Put Your Hand Out

Will You Be There

Black or White

Part 3 (Following "We Are The World" interlude)

Heal the World

Man in the Mirror

Live clip - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3WZh7XsSXY

Michael Jackson: Dangerous World Tour review, Cardiff Arms Park, August 5, 1992

YOU can’t take your eyes off Michael Jackson - and that’s his secret.

For all the lasers, lights, tricks and treats, it’s the superstar who takes the spot-light for two hours, and holds his audience in rapt attention.

There’s strangely no contact with his band, bar a sexy brush with a backing singer - he’s out on his own.

You can argue about the voice.

He rattled through Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ at a furious pace.

With his workrate you can appreciate his breathless style.

He’s moved from Motown soul, through disco to self-styled King Of Pop.

But he delivered a showstopping I’ll Be There, and a fitting climax came with Man In The Mirror, when Jackson the Singer emerged - giving his all to the pop-gospel song, falling to the stage like James Brown.

There were stunning set-pieces from the moment he sprung through the hole in the stage, from like a waxwork, showered by fireworks, and launched into Jamm.

The dance routines - especially considering the conditions - were spectacular.

Smooth Criminal was a net gangster routine - Jacko in panama and white jacket - ending in a quick-fire shoot-out.

Thriller was strangely low key, and seemed a shorter version than at Wembley last week, but Bille Jean was stunning, Jackson in glittering black suit and fedora (soon on its way to a fan in Ely) and some feet!

There are a few quibbles - an over-reliance on video excerpts, strange lulls with nothing happening between some songs, and an annoying tendency for false endings to be applied to nearly every song, leaving them in suspended animation.

And if Heal The World at least allowed a group of Cardiff schoolchildren to be close to their hero, the song itself is nauseating schmaltz in the extreme.

Jacko is at least putting his money where his mouth is, donating “considerable” sums from the tour to young people’s causes. We can only hope some of the cash from the £10 tour “brochures” are sent to Bosnia immediately.

But before that Black Or White summed up Jackson - the lyrics have a certain irony coming from the man, but it’s a brilliant song, from Jennifer Batten’s guitar riff on, and immaculately staged.

Personnel

Dancers

LaVelle Smith (choreographer)

Dominic Lucero (Asst. Choreographer- 1992 leg)

Jamie King

Eddie Garcia

Randy Allaire (1992 leg)

Damon Navandi

Bruno "Taco" Falcon

Michelle Berube

Yuko Sumida

Musicians

Musical director: Greg Phillinganes (1992)

Assistant musical director: Kevin Dorsey

Keyboards/Synthesizers: Greg Phillinganes (1992)

Drums: Ricky Lawson

Lead/rhythm guitar: Jennifer Batten (1992), David Williams

Bass guitar/Synth bass: Don Boyette

Vocalists

Vocal director: Kevin Dorsey

Background vocals: Darryl Phinnessee,Dorian Holley,Siedah Garrett,Kevin Dorsey

On this day 4/08/06 The Alarm

On this day, 4 August 2006, North Wales rockers The Alarm played Cardiff’s Big Weekend festival.

Formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, The Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon embraced rock and included marked influences from Welsh language and culture.

By opening for acts such as U2 and Bob Dylan, they became a popular new wave pop band of the 1980s.

The Alarm's highest charting single in Britain was 1983's "Sixty Eight Guns", which reached number 17 in the UK Singles Chart. Their 1984 album, Declaration, which contained "Sixty Eight Guns", peaked at number six in the UK Albums Chart.

In 2006, the new version of Alarm MM++ released a second studio album, Under Attack. It spawned another UK Top 30 hit, "Superchannel".

In 2008 A third studio album entitled Guerrilla Tactics was released. The Alarm's song "Sixty Eight Guns" has been featured in a Heineken television advertisement in the U.S. In April, 2008 Sharp launched his own version of the band, AOR – Spirit of The Alarm, to showcase the band's American set lists from the late 1980s.

On this day 03/08/2008 Ash

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On this day, 3 August 2008, Northern Irish rock band Ash played Cardiff’s Big Weekend with support provided by locals The Automatic.

Formed in Downpatrick in 1989 by vocalist and guitarist Tim Wheeler, bassist Mark Hamilton and drummer Rick McMurray. As a three-piece, they released mini-album Trailer in 1994 and full-length album 1977 in 1996. This 1996 release was named by NME as one of the 500 greatest albums of all time. After the success of their full debut the band recruited Charlotte Hatherley as a guitarist and vocalist, releasing their second record Nu-Clear Sounds in 1998. After narrowly avoiding bankruptcy, the band released Free All Angels in 2001 and a string of successful singles.

The band became a three-piece again in 2006 when Hatherley left, and after five conventional albums the band released 26 singles in the A-Z Series in 2009, one every two weeks. The band have had one silver, two gold and two platinum-selling (and chart-topping) records in the United Kingdom, as well as 18 songs in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.

They were associated with Britpop, though as that musical movement emphasised Britishness they were not comfortable with the association.

On this day 02/08/2003 Athlete

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On this day, 2 Aug 2003, Indie rock band Athlete played Cardiff’s Big Weekend.

Friends since the age of fourteen, Athlete took their wide ranging influences such as Grandaddy and The Flaming Lips and started jamming and practising in the basement of The Bear, a pub which was converted into a church and sandwich bar, on Deptford High Street in 1999. They began recording there, before sending demos out.

Signing with Regal Recordings, the band released their first single "Westside" in February 2002, which was a hit, garnering airplay on BBC Radio 1 and paving the way for another single, "You Got the Style" which cracked the Top 40 in June. Parlophone took notice and promptly signed the musicians, who entered the studio with producer Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Beth Orton) in late 2002 to record their first studio LP.

The band had a brief period of high-profile domestic success in which their debut album Vehicles & Animals (2003) was a platinum seller in 2005 and Mercury Music Prize nomination.

It was followed up by Tourist (2005) which reached No. 1 and sold over 500,000 copies allowing this album to also go platinum. Athlete's subsequent two albums, Beyond the Neighbourhood (2007) and Black Swan (2009), saw the band exploring different styles, influenced by the works of artists such as Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.

On this day, 01/08/1980 Ultravox

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On this day, 1 August 1980, New wave band Ultravox played Cardiff’s Top Rank.

The band had just released their fourth studio album Vienna on 11 July 1980. The album was the first made by Ultravox with their best-known line-up, after Midge Ure had taken over as lead vocalist and guitarist following the departures of John Foxx and Robin Simon, and it was also the group's first release for Chrysalis.

The release in January 1981 of the title track as the third single from the album heralded the band's commercial breakthrough worldwide and led to healthy sales throughout 1981. Vienna peaked at number 3 in the UK Albums Chart.

Four singles were released from the album. "Sleepwalk" was released as a single in June 1980, and was followed by "Passing Strangers" in October 1980, "Vienna" in January 1981 and "All Stood Still" in May 1981.

Ultravox were then revitalised by Midge Ure, who joined the band as vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist. He had already achieved minor success with semi-glam outfit Slik and Glen Matlock's The Rich Kids, and in 1979, he was temporarily playing with hard rock band Thin Lizzy on their American tour, replacing Gary Moore.

Ure and Billy Currie had met while collaborating on Visage, a studio-based band fronted by New Romantic icon and nightclub impresario Steve Strange. Ure and Currie were part of the Visage ensemble on a part-time basis while simultaneously being in Ultravox. During Ure and Currie's tenure, Visage had released two successful albums and had a string of hit singles (the most notable being "Fade to Grey"), but Ure decided to leave in 1982 to concentrate solely on Ultravox.

On this day 30/07/2006 Madonna

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On this day, 30 July 2006, American superstar Madonna played Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on her Confessions Tour with support provided by Paul Oakenfold. It was the opening concert of the European leg of the tour.

The concert was divided into four parts: Equestrian had horse-themed and bondage elements, Bedouin featured Middle Eastern and religious aspects and was accompanied by messages, Glam—Punk consisted of both rock and stripped-down performances, and the final Disco segment was based on the genre of the same name.

Setlist

Equestrian

Future Lovers

(with samples of "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer)

Get Together

Like a Virgin

Jump

Bedouin

Confessions

(Video interlude)

Live to Tell

Forbidden Love

Isaac

Sorry

Like It or Not

Glam-Punk

Sorry

(Video interlude, remix)

I Love New York

Ray of Light

Let It Will Be

Drowned World/Substitute for Love

Paradise (Not for Me)

Disco

The Duke Mixes the Hits

Music

Erotica

La Isla Bonita

Lucky Star

Hung Up

Madonna kicks off tour in Cardiff

Around 59,000 fans have been in Cardiff to see Madonna kick off the European leg of her world tour at the Millennium Stadium.

The show was Madonna's first ever performance in Wales.

The Millennium Stadium is the biggest venue to date in the star's Confessions world tour, which began in Los Angeles in May.

The show in Cardiff was the first of 21 dates across Europe. Eight are being staged in London.

The singer included an equestrian theme during the opening in Cardiff.

Chris Lamb, from California, said 150 workers from the USA, along with 200 local people worked on the set since Monday.

"People are not coming to see a rock concert - this is a show, closer to theatre than a rock concert," he said.

DJ Paul Oakenfold opened the singer's concert at 1900 BST, performing for around an hour and a half before Madonna's two-hour show.

Traffic Wales said it had put in place plans to cope with the extra traffic.

Project manager Simon Jones said: "We work with the council, the stadium and the emergency services to ensure that the event runs smoothly."

Madonna's European tour continues to Wembley Arena and finishes in Prague before it moves to Japan in September.

'CONFESSIONS' FACTS

The show was rehearsed for 1,000 hours over a period of 12 weeks

There were 27 performers, including the band, 22 dancers, and Madonna herself

The stage and equipment weighs 200 tons

Eight pairs of shoes and boots and seven costumes are worn nightly by Madonna

The disco-ball rocket ship for the start of the show weighs one-and-a-half tonnes

400,000 watts of power are used for every performance of the show

The tour director said the set was "enormously technical" and was state-of-the-art with its video show.

On this day 29th July 1971 Van Der Graaf Generator/Man

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On this day, 29 July 1971, English prog-rock band played Barry Memorial Hall with support provided by Welsh rockers Man.

Formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith they were the first act signed by Charisma Records.

They did not experience much commercial success in the UK, but became popular in Italy during the 1970s.

In 2005 the band reformed, and are still musically active with a line-up of Hammill, organist Hugh Banton and drummer Guy Evans.

The band had released their third album, H to He, Who Am the Only One, the previous December. To promote the album, the band went on Charisma's "Six Bob Tour" with Genesis and Lindisfarne. As Van der Graaf Generator had been signed to Charisma the longest, they were the headline act.

During the Summer months the band had been busy touring whilst also recording the follow-up album Pawn Hearts, released October 1971.

Welsh band Man had recently released their self-titled third studio album in March 1971.

It was the first album to feature drummerTerry Williams having replaced Jeff Jones on drums, while Martin Ace replaced Ray Williams on bass.

On this day 28th July 2001 Tom Jones

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On this day. 28 July 2001, Welsh Singing legend Tom Jones played Cardiff Castle to a sell-out crowd.

Jones had been enjoying somewhat of a resurgance with the release of his Reload album in September 1999, some of which featured in his Cardiff Castle set.

Reload became the highest seller of Jones' career, reaching number one on the British charts in 1999 and again in 2000. Its biggest single was the collaboration with Mousse T, "Sex Bomb", which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart, and was later used in a 2003 episode of The Simpsons (a show Jones had guest starred on in 1992). The album has sold more than four million copies worldwide.

In 2000, Jones garnered a number of honours for his work, including a BRIT Award for Best British Male.

Setlist

Ain't That a Lot of Love

(Homer Banks cover)

Hard to Handle

(Otis Redding cover)

Help Yourself

Never Tear Us Apart

(INXS cover)

I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone

.M<(Elvis Presley cover)

Burning Down the House

(Talking Heads cover)

Delilah

(Les Reed cover)

She's a Lady

(Paul Anka cover)

Without Love (There Is Nothing)

(Clyde McPhatter cover)

Sometimes We Cry

(Van Morrison cover)

Crapped Out Again

(Keb’ Mo’ cover)

Venus

(Shocking Blue cover)

If I Only Knew

You Need Love Like I Do

Mama Told Me Not to Come

(Randy Newman cover)

Give Me One Reason

(Tracy Chapman cover)

Am I Wrong

(Keb’ Mo’ cover)

A Boy From Nowhere

(Mike Leander cover)

I'll Never Fall in Love Again

(Lonnie Donegan cover)

Green, Green Grass of Home

(Johnny Darrell cover)

What's New Pussycat?

(Burt Bacharach cover)

You Can Leave Your Hat On

(Randy Newman cover)

Sex Bomb

It's Not Unusual

(Les Reed cover)

It's Your Thing

(The Isley Brothers cover)

Are You Gonna Go My Way

(Lenny Kravitz cover)

Kiss

(Prince cover)